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August 4, 2011

Will taxi drivers call off strike today?

Taxi owners are to hold an emergency meeting today and/or tomorrow to decide on the future of their strike, which is already in its third week.

According to a dispatch from the state news agency, the head of their largest association (SATA), Thymios Lymberopoulos, is expected to propose an end to the strike, after the national association's presidency met with regional authority chiefs and they promised not to accept any more applications or issue new taxi licences until the transport ministry draft bill is tabled in Parliament.

On Wednesday a meeting of taxi owners union representatives decided to extend their mobilisations, protesting against the deregulation of their sector. Despite the hardline stance adopted on a national level, taxi owner associations at a local level were on Wednesday announcing an end to their strike action, including those on the islands of Lesvos, with the exception of the island's central town of Mytilene, and on the island of Rhodes.